


Dewdrops

by HeroCrafter



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Gen, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, So here we are, Space Dad Hank Henshaw | J'onn J'onzz, and of course alex and kara's, but vale is older than them, hes been vale's other dad for SO long you guys, im not tagging Dansen yet bc its rlly only mentioned in passing, j'onn loves his kids :'), listen VALE NEEDS THERAPY, this story hit me over the head with a frying pan and WOULD NOT LEAVE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-28 22:40:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30146667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeroCrafter/pseuds/HeroCrafter
Summary: They're just so tired. All this fighting, all this war. It never stops. But then, they suppose that they're called the Endless Wars for a reason. They glance at the letter from their father, given to them decades ago from his deathbed. They ready their sword and head to the battlefield.(They know this is their last fight. They've been fighting for too long, lost too many people. They'll come back when the battle is done and open the letter. They know it.)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. The Letter

They remembered how their dad had died. The first true loss they had ever suffered. It had been a peaceful death, but one of the most painful they’d ever had to bear, rivalled only by the day the General, their  ~~ mother ~~ aunt had fallen to the Wars and their sister had fled their planet. That first loss came to them now, in the Dark.

_ “...And to my eldest, my dearest son, Vale. There will come a day when you tire of fighting, my son. You will need a place to recover, to heal  _ **_yourself_ ** _ instead of others. I know, because I did too. You are more like I am than you realise. Take this letter. When the day comes that you need a home to come back to, open it. You have a bright, bright spirit, my son. The Endless Wars do not need to be fought by you for eternity. Your spirit will dim, fade away in the face of their darkness. When that happens, when the day comes that you cannot possibly bear another loss of someone who fought at your side, then, you will read the letter. And you will come to the home that will always be waiting for you, Vale-El.” _

They held that letter now, tracing well-worn edges they’d had to take many careful measures to preserve so that it would last, so many decades later. The last battle played over and over in their mind, everything they could have done differently, could have done to protect the warriors behind them screaming through their head. It was no use--as powerful as they were, not even they could truly change the past. The warriors had fallen, and been taken into the Darkness of the End. Vale had taken the task of informing their families so that the grieving period would be observed, and the fallen fighters would be guided on their journeys to the light of their gods.

“Maybe he was right…” Their voice was rough from the many years of disuse, their telepathy allowing communication on a warfield with just a thought. Vale knew their father had been right--had known it the whole time, known the truth behind his words from the moment they had been said. With that thought playing in their head, finally drowning out the sounds of energyfire and light blasts from the earlier battle, they opened the letter. To their great surprise, a small communicator fell out. They held it gently in their hand, mindful of its small size, and they began to read.

_ “Dear Vale, _

_ If you’re reading this, then what I feared has come to pass and you have lived naught but a life of war and fighting. The same happened to me, long ago, and from the day you were born with your blue skin, budding horns, and such fuzzy little wings, I knew you would fight the same path I did, even though I was a Modern Kryptonian, and you an Ancient.  _

_ During my time fighting the Darkness, I began to be blinded to the sight of what had truly mattered to me:  _ **_life._ ** _ Real life, lived with those close to you. I had lost my passion for the sciences of nature- physics, chemistry, biology. So, I finally left the battlefield, and I moved to the one place I have never questioned my position in. _

_ I sealed a beacon in this letter, coded to release a message when you press the button. It will alert the residents of the place to your intended arrival. When you arrive, you’ll find the most soulful, bright place I’ve ever felt I belonged: Zrhythrevium Farm, located in Stardew Valley, a place on Earth. It sits on the southern coast, which I find ironic, given your naturally cold skin. Like ice! The point is, Vale, it will be the perfect place to help you heal. You are, naturally, a lot longer-lived than I am. I have no doubt you endured the frontlines for far longer than I, with your boundless strength. In the Valley, though, you don’t need that strength. You’ll be safe.  _

_ This was my most precious gift of all, leading up to my death, and now the farm is yours. I know you’ll bring honour, not to the family name of El, but to yourself. You are an honourable person, my son, no matter how you may attempt to dispute that. _

_ Love, Dad. _

_ P.S. If your godfather J’onn stuck around, that’s where he’ll be. Say hi to that old man for me, would ya? _

Vale nearly jumped in surprise as a mark appeared on the time-worn sheet, until it rolled off and hit the floor. More quickly joined it, and they looked up at the infinite sky only to realise the marks were tears, coming from them. They wiped them away, taking care not to get the beacon wet. 

“Now or never, I suppose…” they trailed off, looking at the beacon. 

They pressed the button.


	2. Into The Valley

“So. What’s someone like you doing, coming to a place like little old Stardew Valley? Not much goes on here, hate to disappoint, what with you looking like you’re about to dive into a battlefield.” This woman, the human… bus driver? Is that what it was called? Seemed a bit… perhaps not standoffish, just nosy. Or not even nosy, she did seem rather friendly, like she was just trying to make some conversation. Vale looked at her with a completely flat expression, but she took it in stride and continued.

“I’m only asking because I’m the only bartender on our particular side of nowhere. I own and run the saloon. Everyone calls the place Al’s, but that’s a story for another time. Usually it’s Kara that runs transport, but this old bus is about to give out, really, and no one comes here.  _ Usually, _ ” she added, risking a glance to the only passenger. What Vale found quite  _ unusual _ , though, was her refusal to comment on… well, anything about them. The only thing she’d mentioned was the way they held themselves, ready for a fight. Not the wings, or the horns, or the height, or the  _ furry, blue skin.  _ Not even their hair or eyes, which matched… everything else, save their horns. Their horns were some dark grey patterning. It was like she didn’t notice anything about how they looked, which Vale knew was exceptionally uncommon in humans. She didn’t even say anything about how they didn’t wear a shirt! Although, they supposed, if you gave it two seconds of thought it was rather obvious that the wings would make that hard. The same probably went for the lack of shoes, with the way their feet were shaped. Like most earthly quadrupeds.

The bus came to a slow stop, the machine seeming to make a strange exhale as it settled that hurt Vale’s pointed ears. The woman--Megan, was her name Megan?--stepped off first, walking past a comparatively tall Black man, mentioning something about how the bus had finally broken down. To Vale, the man was quite short, at a small 6 feet tall, in comparison to Vale’s own 9 feet and 6 inches--a perfect 10 feet with the horns. Next to him stood a shorter woman, at what Vale estimated to be about 5 feet and 5 inches, maybe 6. They stepped off the bus, reforming themself to their proper height, and were completely blindsided when the man smiled so softly at them. They hadn’t expected J’onn to recognise them, or hold them in such high regard.

The woman stepped forward, a similar smile on her face as she looked up at them.

“Hi there. I’m Kelly Olsen, it’s really a pleasure to meet you.  _ Mayor J’onzz  _ here asked me to come along with him to welcome you to town, and to help get you accustomed to… being around people,” she looked embarrassed as she said this. Vale was curious as to why; it was not as though the assessment was wrong, they were too accustomed to silence, darkness, and being  _ alone.  _ There was a difference, after all, between being around just allies and enemies, and being in a civilian zone.

“Anyway! Our local carpenter, my girlfriend, Alex, is down at the farm, just getting some final things tidied away. It’s actually just this way, if you’ll follow me.” She turned around, making a strange gesture to J’onn. He fell into step with Vale, who, quite honestly, found it a bit difficult to keep pace with the smaller human. As such, the two followed at a distance, both taking care to match the length of their strides to the other. It was nice, Vale thought, walking with him again. It, truly, had been too long. They enjoyed the opportunity to just fall back into place in J'onn's life. Some sense of normal would exist, then, even in the Valley where everything is different.

The trio walked in companionable silence for a short while before the trees started thinning, and the dirt started more noticeably mixing into sand. The trees gave way entirely, and Vale took in their first sight of the farm that their father had left for them, and lo and behold… it was a wreck.

They must have made a face at the debris covering the sand, because Kelly began to laugh at them. Or, not at them, she didn’t seem unkind, just amused.

“What’s the matter? Sure, it’s a bit overgrown, but there really is some good soil under the mess. At least, according to J’onn, so at least if it doesn’t work out you know who to blame.” Her eyes shone as she spoke through her gentle laughter, and Vale watched with an odd curiosity as they brightened at the sound of a… muffled curse… from inside the house. Vale wandered into the trees, feeling more comfortable in the shade than the heat of the sun.  _ Ironic indeed, father.  _ Whoever was in the house decided that was the right moment to come out, which was… vaguely annoying. They had just gotten comfortable...

“Fuck, uh, sorry about that. I was just fixing some things in this old beach shack to make it actually habitable again. Also, do any of you  _ know  _ how difficult it is to raise an entire goddamn ceiling? I ended up digging into the roof, and apparently this thing had an attic, which was a relief because it meant I had more space to work with than I thought, but I mean, come on! And literally none of you have told me and Kara why we’re doing this? Nine feet is a standard, and why the hell does the  _ door _ need to be twelve feet?! It’s a door! No one is  _ that _ -” the woman cut herself off as she saw Vale’s silhouette in the trees, almost freezing in place. Kelly took pity on her, and from the way she held herself while looking at the woman, Vale figured this must be the carpenter, Alex.

“I stand corrected. You are in fact that tall. You must be the new farmer. I’m Alex Danvers, the carpenter in this backend of nowhere. Well, not the only one. I work with my sister, Kara, if I’m not in the lab.” She nodded at them, and Vale was much happier knowing at least  _ someone  _ would acknowledge their height. It was odd, with Kelly and Megan, when they had made blatantly clear they wouldn’t acknowledge the… well, everything. At least someone here might consider them out of place. Vale returned the nod, though they figured it may have been lost on the smallest human, given the shade provided by the trees.

“Thank you for all the effort you and Kara have put into the house, Alex. You do good work.” J’onn briefly set a hand on her shoulder as he passed her on the stairs. He turned back to face Vale when he reached the door, that same smile from the bus stop on his face. He must be close to Alex and whoever Kara was, then.   
“It’s a good house, Vale. I think you’ll like it, very rustic. Shall we?” He waved a hand at the door behind him, like he wanted Vale to finally join him. Seemed a small house for a tour, but Alex had mentioned an attic, so perhaps there was more to it than met the human eye. (Vale didn’t think they were supposed to hear Alex’s mutter of “more like crusty,” but she would learn soon enough their range of hearing far exceeded her own.) 

* * *

Vale was right, there really wasn’t much to the small house. Alex had been right in calling it a beach shack. At present, there was room enough for a bed in the lower right corner that had clearly been altered to fit their frame, a bookshelf in the upper left corner, a few potted trees, a floor TV they would most certainly be taking apart to play with, an indoor bench, and a high table with two chairs that they could never hope to fit in. No kitchen, no other rooms, just the one small living space with nice blue walls that matched the doormat. J’onn must have told Alex about their lack of most biological functions. The one nice thing about such a square living space was that it would be easier to add onto in the future, which had likely been the carpenters’ intentions while making it “actually habitable again.” J’onn, however, seemed quite glad for the excuse to sit and talk. Him on one of the chairs, and Vale on the floor. Even while sitting, after all, they were over five feet tall. J’onn allowed Vale to put their hand briefly to his temple to rekindle the old psychic bond they had shared, but was hesitant in actually… saying anything. Vale, ever blunt, went straight to what had been sitting in the back of their mind since they got off the bus. 

“So. Ms. Olsen.” J’onn sighed. Clearly this was the one inevitable conversation he had been trying to avoid. 

“Ms. Olsen, yes. I thought you’d notice, but if you didn’t, I didn’t want to say anything. She is, as I’m certain you’ve figured, a psychologist. She used to serve in the army, here on Earth. She specialises in trauma, Vale,” here he paused, took a mental breath, “and I don’t think you need to be fixed, I’ve never thought that, but-”

“But I was a child, and my being here means it’s all finally caught up to me. I know I wouldn’t be here if I could have kept going. Could’ve ignored the hurt. And I know it’s a hurt that doesn’t just go away on its own. I’m nothing if not logical, J’onn. If you really think she can help… then I’ll try.” J’onn looked surprised when Vale cut him off, and that look only grew in intensity the longer they spoke. They couldn’t fault him for that--they had been of… a very different mindset, the last time they had this conversation. A much angrier one.

“I… well. I didn’t think you would be… nearly so willing, Vale. What changed?”

“Nothing. I’m just tired of fighting it. I wasn’t, then.” Vale’s usually passive expression became almost pained, and if bittersweet could describe an expression, in that instant it would have been perfect. J’onn’s expression was a near mirror image. He had had daughters, on his home planet, and he never wanted for them to be in pain. The same held true for the godson he now faced. 

“She’ll be good for you, Vale. I know it.” He sent a wave of warmth to Vale’s mind, and was quite pleased when their shoulders eased and their face smoothed back into impassiveness. (Impassive to those that didn’t know them. Those who  _ did  _ know them would know that it meant they were perfectly content, at that moment, with what was happening. It wasn’t a state they were in often, and J’onn was more than pleased that he could still inspire some form of calm in them, despite how long it had been.)

J’onn stood from his seat and spoke aloud for the first time since they had entered the house.

“I’ll leave you to it, then. You’ll find the books in the shelf to be very useful to you, I have no doubt, and I know how you love to mess about with circuitry. Alex and Kelly might hang around the farm for a little while longer, but they won’t do anything to disturb you. Today’s probably been a long day for you, Vale. You should get some rest. And tomorrow,” his gentle smile turned evil, “you should introduce yourself to the town! Everyone’s been asking about you, you know.” With that, the devil-man closed the door behind him, leaving Vale to their indignance.


End file.
